Guntram Shatterhand:At this point it's not about predicting the winner, but predicting what the batshiat crazy right-wing is going to do when Obama wins.

Well, in this election cycle the Internet appears to have played a major part in countering the distortions emanating from their wholly-owned media outlets so one guess would be efforts to dampen anonymous on-line discussions because of terrorism and the children.

thurstonxhowell:The size of my poo the Sunday morning before a presidential election has been a flawless predictor my whole life. If it's large, the Republican wins, if it's small, the Democrat wins. I had Ethiopian last night.

bulldg4life:Summoner101: Right, so the fact there are more people now that believe the Earth is flat even though the population is much greater is still relevant.

...

What percentage of the human population believed in a flat earth 2000 years ago? 70+%?

What percentage of the human population believes in a flat earth now? 5%?

Blanket statements about numbers doesn't seem the best way to make the point

I don't think I would throw out such high percentages even for the ancients since there is really no way to know (but I also don't think it is a clear question to ask)...

I teach Astronomy and physics (H.S. level) and we discuss this concept every year.

Some background:

- Ancient Indian "astronomers" (more astrologer than astronomer back then, but they took measurements) reference a spherical Earth by the 8th century BCE (They even mention how the Sun is stationary [heliocentric] and give a very close estimate for the distance to the Sun and Moon in terms of diameters of these objects all without an HP - these guys were pretty sharp)

- In Greece, Eratosthenes gets credit for a measurement of the Earth's circumference that was off by only 2-3% of today's value (though it might have been off by more depending on the value he used for a "stadion" - this is irrelevant to the general claim of the shape of the Earth and that he knew how to calculate it)

- Ancient China was strongly influenced by Indian astronomy, and astronomy was often mandated by the Emperor. So, I'd wager whatever the peasants of China "believed" they at least heard of a spherical Earth

But, you might argue, "Sure, many educated people knew the Earth was round, and possibly most of the Chinese, but the European masses certainly didn't"

Well, maybe, but how would we know?

Anyone who lived on the coast would have watched ships disappear by "sinking" into the horizon and everyone, anywhere, can see the Moon as at least a circle (if not obviously a sphere).

So, though we can't claim what anyone in particular thought, we can surmise they might have made the connection if given the opportunity. The rub is (and here is why I think it a poor question/claim) that most peasants probably just never bothered with the question. To them the "Earth" they lived on was the small area they worked and lived, the idea of a sphere doesn't play into it. Even so, it isn't like there were polls taken on this question every few years anyway so to make the claim that, "people thought the Earth was flat" is sort of moot, you can't know in what proportion this might be true.

On the flip side, we do know that information on the Earth's spherical-ness was at least available to folks from the 8th century, or if you think dissemination was limited, 3rd century BCE.

Mad Scientist:thurstonxhowell: The size of my poo the Sunday morning before a presidential election has been a flawless predictor my whole life. If it's large, the Republican wins, if it's small, the Democrat wins. I had Ethiopian last night.

You made this thread much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

In addition to the stupid 24-hour political commercials and constant polling calls, another bad thing about moving back to Southwest Ohio is the lack of good Ethiopian food. I actually bought some teff to make bubbly bread at home.

You made this thread much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

In addition to the stupid 24-hour political commercials and constant polling calls, another bad thing about moving back to Southwest Ohio is the lack of good Ethiopian food. I actually bought some teff to make bubbly bread at home.

[www.seriouseats.com image 500x316]

WHAT 24 hour political commercials? We get none. Except for Rachel Maddow reporting on commercials you wouldn't even know there was an election here. Hell, no one even knows Dianne Feinstein is running for reelection it's such a runaway.

You made this thread much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

In addition to the stupid 24-hour political commercials and constant polling calls, another bad thing about moving back to Southwest Ohio is the lack of good Ethiopian food. I actually bought some teff to make bubbly bread at home.

[www.seriouseats.com image 500x316]

WHAT 24 hour political commercials? We get none. Except for Rachel Maddow reporting on commercials you wouldn't even know there was an election here. Hell, no one even knows Dianne Feinstein is running for reelection it's such a runaway.

We get so many political commercials that I (almost) miss the tools who did car commercials. I don't watch 24 hour news channels, so maybe they have fewer commercials? Still wouldn't make me watch them. We currently DVR everything. That doesn't let us completely avoid them, but they go past fast and we can avoid ominous music.

El_Frijole_Blanco:thurstonxhowell: The size of my poo the Sunday morning before a presidential election has been a flawless predictor my whole life. If it's large, the Republican wins, if it's small, the Democrat wins. I had Ethiopian last night.

Checkmate, libs.

Does runny count as large or small?

Oh, I don't care, I'm just pleased that I made so much of this thread talk about either Ethiopian food or my morning dump.

You made this thread much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

In addition to the stupid 24-hour political commercials and constant polling calls, another bad thing about moving back to Southwest Ohio is the lack of good Ethiopian food. I actually bought some teff to make bubbly bread at home.

[www.seriouseats.com image 500x316]

I NEED YOUR INJERA RECIPE. My at home injera has kind of sucked.

My favorite Ethiopian place closed down (dammit); there's one in town but they kind of suck and use white flour for the goddamn injera (via friends who worked there). So I've been freaking jonesing for about a year now... agh.

/I can make an okay doro wat and red lentils and a few other dishes though//it helps kinda

You made this thread much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

In addition to the stupid 24-hour political commercials and constant polling calls, another bad thing about moving back to Southwest Ohio is the lack of good Ethiopian food. I actually bought some teff to make bubbly bread at home.

[www.seriouseats.com image 500x316]

I NEED YOUR INJERA RECIPE. My at home injera has kind of sucked.

My favorite Ethiopian place closed down (dammit); there's one in town but they kind of suck and use white flour for the goddamn injera (via friends who worked there). So I've been freaking jonesing for about a year now... agh.

/I can make an okay doro wat and red lentils and a few other dishes though//it helps kinda

I use this one. The issue might be your home. I lived in a place once where I could not get a good sour dough to start. I actually had to buy a starter in the mail. Have you had issues fermenting other things? Also, it has to be like pancake batter.